A study of termites (Order: Isoptera) communities on the floor of lowland forest of UNIMAS

This research aims to find out the number of termites species on the floor of lowland forest of UNIMAS, the relative abundance of the species, their foraging activities and distribution on the forest floor. The termites sampling was conducted along 6 transects and 36 quadrats. A total of 14 species comprising 8 genera, 3 families and 6 subfamilies were collected Of these, the termite from species Schedorhinotermes lavanicus were found in all six transects and considered as the most abundant species with 21 encountering while termites from family Rhinotermitidae dominated the assemblage of termites species. Foraging activities and behaviours were varied among the different species depending on the kind of food they consumed and can also be determined through their feeding group. The population density of termites distributed on the floor of lowland forest was estimated as 8, 300 individuals per hectare